Note on Concept and Principle of Organizing

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Concept of Organizing

Organizing is the next important function of management which involves arranging and structuring the work which is required to accomplish the organizational objectives. Normally organizing is known as structure, process, a group of people and function of management. To understand the concept of organization, it is necessary to define the following terms.

As a structure: Organization as a structure refers to a hierarchical arrangement of a position of the members and the department of an organization. It shows authority and responsibility relationship among the members. It identifies about who is to command and who is to obey. It is the mechanism to direct, co-ordinate and control the activities. It is the static concept that cannot be changed easily and quickly.

According to Koontz and Odonnel, "Essentially, it (organization) is the creation and maintenance of an intentional structure of roles."

According to Stoner, "Organizing is the process of arranging and allocating works, authority, and resources among an organization’s members so that they can achieve an organizational goal".

As a process: Organization as a process refers to the identification and grouping of activities to be done, assigning duties to the people, creating authority responsibility relationship and coordinating activities among the members and departments. It normally determines, arranges, group and assign the task to its members. It is a dynamic concept as the activities can be arranged and changed according to the requirements of the company.

As a function: Organizing is an important function after planning. The manager of the company organize or collect resources such as manpower, money, material, machine, methods, etc. They are needed to put the action on the track. Without organizing function, it is not possible to move forward.

As a group of people: Organizing is the group or association of certain people created for certain specific economic interest or non-economic interest. It is guided by the policy or the rules of the company. School, colleges, hospital, government office, club, etc are the examples.

Principle of Organizing

The principle of organizing guides the organizing function of management. Some principles are:

The principle of unity of objectives: Organizing helps to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization which affects the organizational structure. So, the goals and objectives of an organization should be clearly defined. The objectives should be defined very clearly for each department, for each section and even for each position of the organizational structures. All the objectives should be unified in such a way that it could facilitate to concentrate all the efforts towards attainment of an organizational goal.

The principle of efficiency: Organization should increase its efficiency in such a way that the cost or expenditure of mission and objectives of the enterprise below. An efficient organizational structure helps to operate the resources efficiently. Hence, it ensures optimum utilization of resources.

Principles of the span of control:Span of control is a principle or it is a device, with the help of which a number of subordinates can be controlled, their number can be determined and the activities can be supervised. A manager cannot handle an unlimited number of subordinates. Hence, it guides and helps to determine the numerical limit of subordinates to be supervised or controlled by the manager. If the numbers of subordinates are limited, a manager can control and supervise effectively. But the number of subordinates may vary depending upon the nature of the job, the competence of manager and quality of subordinates.

The principle of a division of works:Division of work can be created where separate nature of jobs can be performed. Effective departmentation as per the work and task can be created and it is an important principle of the organization.

The principle of unity of command:According to the principle of unity of command, each subordinate should have one superior, whose command has to be obeyed. If a person is to receive a direction from several superior, it may result in confusion, chaos, conflict, and indiscipline. So, there should be unity of command in an organization.

The principle of unity of direction: There should be one objective (unified objective) and plan for the group activities. If it could be a direction from the superior it will be the same to all subordinates. All the subordinates will be receiving the same direction in their respective works and thus under this principle of unity of direction, they will be free from dilemma about obeying diversified direction. This will also facilitate verification and coordination of activities.

The principle of delegation: Under this principle of delegation, authority, rights, and power should be equal to responsibility so as to enable each manager to accomplish the task assigned to him/her.

The principle of simplicity:This principle emphasizes upon the simplicity of the organizational structure. If there exist a long member of levels in an organization, there is a possibility of difficulty in communication and coordination. It clears that the activities and the system of organization should be simple and easy to understand.

The principle of authority: Authority means the right and power. It is the tool which makes manager able to accomplish the desired goals. Hence, the authority of each manager should be clearly defined and it should equal to responsiveness.

The principle of responsibility:Principle of responsibility makes the superior responsible for their authority. In a sound organization, the superior is responsible for the performance of subordinates. The authority can be delegated but not responsibility.

The principle of flexibility:The organizational structure should be flexible. It should be adaptable to changing circumstances or situation. It should easily permit any expansion and replacement without dislocating the basic design of the organization.

The principle of balance: There should be proper and reasonable balance in works and activities and the size of departments within the organization. Further, there should also be a reasonable balance between centralization and decentralization. Over emphasis of any type and preferences to anyone should be avoided.

Scalar Principle:It is also known as ‘chain of command’. It is an unbroken line of command/ authority from the top level to the bottom of an organization. This chain of command should be short and clear. If it could be, the decision-making and communication will be more effective and efficient.

The principle of specialization:The principle of effective organization provokes specialization. Under this principle of specialization, a total task of an organization is divided in such manner that every person is confined to a single and particular job, which leads to specialization of work.

Very Short Questions

Organizing is an important function of management. Organizing involves arranging and structuring the work which is required to accomplish the organizational objectives. Normally organizing is known as structure, process, a group of people and function of management. Organizing brings together men, machines, materials and money to execute the plans. The concept of organizing can be defined in the following terms:

As a structure: Organization is the structural framework or mechanism of the relationship among the organizational members that can be presented in a chart. It defines the duties, responsibilities, authorities of the people for handling the job to achieve the common goals.

According to Koontz and Odonnel, "Essentially, it (organization) is the creation and maintenance of an intentional structure of roles."

According to Stoner, "Organizing is the process of arranging and allocating works, authority, and resources among an organization’s members so that they can achieve an organizational goal".

As a process: Organization as a process refers to the identification and grouping of activities to be done, assigning duties to the people, creating authority responsibility relationship and coordinating activities among the members and departments.

As a function: Organization is an important function after planning. The manager of the company organize or collect resources such as manpower, money, material, machine, methods, etc.

As a group of people: Organizing is the group or association of certain people created for certain specific economic interest or non-economic interest. It is guided by the policy or the rules of the company. School, colleges, hospital, government office, club, etc are the examples.